A Court of Blood and Monsters
by BloodlinesFan
Summary: A human girl with a monstrous heart. A story 1000 years into the future after the events of ACOWAR. A romance between a broken girl and Rhys' and Feyre's son. Original characters along with appearances from characters from the books.


The one thing I had learned from countless books I have read is that forests were full of magic and danger. It seemed like forests could not be one without the other. As I peered through the darkness between the trees, a light breeze reached me from within, and I exhaled in surprise. I had taken a step forward without being entirely conscious of it. My hair was fanned across my face, too many curls to properly contain in a ponytail, but I tried anyways. A few strands fell in my face regardless, but I paid them no mind as I gazed into the forest.

My forest.

I had been visiting this forest ever since I was a child. However, after telling my parents of it, and realizing they could not see it, I kept it to myself. My own magical forest.

I've never gone in before, always interrupted, before I could take that first step.

But now, I was alone, with no one for miles, and I had finally taken that first step. I was extremely cautious. I didn't know what awaited me once I crossed the threshold of the trees. As a child, I had always been giddy with excitement anytime I was near the forest, feeling that pull.

But so many things had happened between that innocent child I had been and the cautious teenager I was now.

I took another step, and this time, a howling wind rushed past me, almost hurtling me backwards with the strength of it. I swayed where I stood, and for some reason, an image of my parents came to my mind. Not the last image I had of them, bloodied and broken, but right before then. My mom's cackling laughter at my dad's joke. I never could remember what the joke was, if it was even a joke at all. Maybe she had just laughed for the fun of it. Maybe it was just a laugh one does when alive.

I gathered a deep breath, tightening my backpack, and gave one last look behind me. This was my hometown. The place where I had grown up, where I had been loved, deeply and without reserve.

It was also the place where I had lost so much. I had lost my parents, lost myself, lost so much of myself it was a wonder I was still alive.

I turned back towards the forest, not feeling anything but caution as I began to walk towards the trees, the darkness swallowing me up almost immediately. It was welcoming, almost, that darkness. I wondered if the darkness had been the same for my parents.

I had been walking for hours, with only little glimpses of light casting through the branches of the trees to guide my path.

As I walked, I noticed that this forest was unusually quiet. Not even a chirp of a bird or the wind rustling the bushes. There was no sound besides my breathing and footsteps. It was a bit unnerving, but I didn't pay it too much mind. I was in a peaceful state. One I hadn't been in for almost two years.

I knew the reason why I had come into this forest, but being here now, I wondered if maybe, just maybe, I could actually live out here. Maybe I'd find a little cabin, and I could turn it into my home for the rest of my life. I could fish, maybe even learn to hunt animals, and just live in the wilderness, alone with just the forest around me.

It almost sounded like heaven to me.

I stopped when I grew too tired. I had a water bottle on me, so I took a huge mouthful. The water was nice and cool, and after putting it back into my backpack, I continued my trek through the quiet forest.

My earlier fantasy played through my mind again, taking shape more clearly. I had almost convinced myself when I heard a snap of the branch, and I stopped, my hand already grabbing the pocket knife I had attached to my side. I didn't dare breath, listening intently to the sounds around me.

After almost ten minutes, and not another sound, I continued walking, but I didn't put my knife away. I held it tightly in my grip.

I can't believe I was so stupid to let myself get swept away in a nonsensical fantasy that would never happen. I had come here for one reason and one reason only. And it was not too rebuild my life. I had already tried, for two years I had tried, before realizing that I wasn't made for living anymore.  
I couldn't take it anymore, so I dropped my backpack right where I stood. I turned around, slowly, taking in the scenery. It was full of color, flowers of different types surrounding me, on every bush. It was beautiful and I felt comforted by the beauty.

I brought my knife higher, to my wrist, and I didn't want to think about what I was about to do, I didn't want to look, so I looked high above me as I pressed the knife to my wrist, and focused on the trees that reached high into the sky.

I felt a slice of pain, and I gasped, but I continued pressing deeper, readying myself to slash it across, when my eyes snagged on a pair of luminous eyes on one of the branches. At first, I thought it was an owl, but it was still daytime, and then the eyes vanished, and I whirled around, looking, and when a pair of hands grabbed my shoulders from behind me, I panicked, slashing out with my knife, in a blind panic. I don't know if my knife hit anything because the next thing I know, a blunt object strikes me across the head, and I am plunged into darkness almost immediately.

When I awaken, it is to a thunderous amount of voices. Multiple voices, all shouting over one another, some cold, some fiery, but all pissed. I open my eyes slowly, feeling like glue had pressed my eyelids closed shut, but finally I do, and I realize I am laying on a bench, looking up at a chandelier.

I sit up slowly, grimacing at the pain shooting through my head. There are small spots dancing in my vision, so I close my eyes and breath deeply. When I open them again, I stare at the people surrounding me. There are a few of them, and I am in awe of their beauty and grace and that sense of other-worldness that they all possess in their words, their movements.

One of them, a man with green eyes, noticed I am awake and made a motion with his hand that immediately quiets the others. Any other person might have shrinked or even yelped under so much attention, but I just dragged my eyes across each of them, taking in their features. I looked beyond them, to the massive doors that appeared to be the entrance. Which meant it was my exit that they were all currently blocking.

No one said anything, and I wondered if they were waiting for me to speak first. I cleared my throat, wincing at the sound in the now-quiet room.

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked, and a few chuckles filled the room. I remained stony-faced, and slowly stood up.

"What's your name?" The tone of his voice let me know that he wasn't asking because he particularly cared. It was more to fill the silence. His amber eyes were tracking my every movement, every breath.

"Who are you?" I wasn't sure who I was directing the question towards, but the man with golden hair stepped forward and offered me his hand. I took it and he gave it a light kiss.

"My name is Tamlin. This is my home you are currently residing in." He had a pleasant face, but it was way too open, way too bright for me to look at it any longer than a few seconds.

The next one to step towards me was the red-haired male, and he bowed his head to me as he said, "My name is Lucien." Direct and to the point. I liked it.

There were three other males behind him, but I didn't look at them too long. I gave another glance towards the doors, but I doubted I could get past them. I reined in my growing panic. I wasn't trapped, and even though I knew, I knew deep down in my blood, that these males were powerful enough to hurt me, I had a feeling they wouldn't. They looked like the perfect image of Victorian gentlemen. That didn't mean I was going to lower my guard, though. I clenched my hands into fists at my sides, and took a defensive stance.

Tamlin tilted his head to the side as he surveyed me. I stood up straighter, looking him straight in the eye. I was pretty tall, but he was a lot taller than me. At least a head taller. I was surprised. I was usually taller than most people, even the men. Even the red-haired male, Lucien, was taller than me.

"My name is Maya. I didn't realize there were...mansions in this forest?" I looked from one male to the other.

It was Tamlin who spoke. "You've been here before?"

I shook my head and then winced. Bad idea.  
"First time, I was just...wandering around." I noticed the look he exchanged with Lucien, one that was full of mistrust. I didn't care. I just needed to get out of here soon.

I looked towards the doors again, but my eyes caught onto one of the men in the background. He had such luminous eyes, they were almost yellow…"You're the one who knocked me out."

He nodded. He didn't even look apologetic, which pissed me off even more. "Didn't anyone tell you it was rude to hit someone over the head?"

His lips lifted at the edges, almost involuntarily, but then he schooled his features into a neutral expression.

Lucien, however, did let out a chuckle.

I was tired, exhausted really, and didn't want to spend another moment here.

"I'm going to be going now," I said. I grabbed my backpack off the floor, and whirled towards the door. I was almost outside, my hands already outreached to grab the handle, and I was surprised I made it this far without one of them stopping me.

But then, behind me, one of them spoke.

"She scared everything in the forest. Nothing came close to her, and when she wandered past them, they would flee."

I knew it was the golden eyed bastard even before I turned around. I gave him an icy glare, but I noticed the change in the room almost immediately. Where before Lucien and Tamlin had been the perfect gentlemen, if a little bit distant, they were now alert and staring at me as if I were….I shook my head.

"What?" I asked because I wasn't sure exactly what the words meant. Did I scare away birds? I wasn't really being quiet in my trek through the forest, but at the look in all of their faces, I knew it wasn't birds.

I swallowed hard, but before I could say anything else, Lucien looked towards Tamlin and said, "I was gonna head back to the Night Court, maybe I should take her with me?"

Tamlin's stance which was already tensed, went even straighter and there was a fire behind his green eyes. It wasn't a raging fire, no-it was a smoldering fire, one that had been burning for a long time.

"Fine." That word was ground out of him, and I almost winced in sympathy before the words registered in my mind. "Wait, you're not taking me anywhere."

"We can't let you go if what Serantine said is true." I guessed that was the name of the golden eyed male. I gave him a poisonous look.

Before I could say anything, however, Lucien touched my elbow and my entire body locked up, and I saw surprise filter in those amber eyes of his. Then, the world vanished, and the last thing I saw were those luminous yellow eyes of Serantine. I could have sworn he seemed sad to see me go.

I only wished I could have flipped him off before darkness and smoke enveloped me, and I was plunged into a swirling black hole of cold and before I could even scream, we landed inside of a candle-lit room that was filled with other people.

But I paid them no mind. I turned my full attention, filled with anger and hate, towards Lucien.

"You motherfucker!" I screeched, before leaping at him. I got one punch in, mostly due to the fact that he seemed rooted in surprise, before a pair of hands peeled me away from him.

"Let me go! I'll fucking ruin you, you piece of shit asshole, I'll fucking destroy you!" I wasn't sure what I was more pissed about: taking me somewhere without my permission or touching me.

"Motherfucker?" Lucien said, feeling out the word with a grimace on his face. "I'm many things, but I can assure you I have never had physical relations with my mother."

I stared at him in disbelief, pretty sure he was pulling my leg. However, the confusion and disgust remained upon his face, and with a quick look at the others, I could see that they were also confused, although they seemed more amused about the whole situation.

"Want to introduce us to your friend there?" It was a female voice who asked that, sounding amused.

I shook my head, feeling my anger dull a little bit, but when I looked at Lucien again, I felt it increase. "You had no right to do that to me." I paused. "What did you do, by the way? One minute we were at Tamlin's place, and now we're...here." I took a quick glance around the room. We seemed to have interrupted these people having dinner.

"Can someone explain what's happening now before I get frustrated?" It was a female voice, but this one was different. Where the other one was bright and bubble, this one was cold. It was ancient and when I looked at the speaker, a small woman with short black hair and silver eyes, something within me recoiled. There was something...powerful about her. I could feel it, even though I couldn't explain it. I knew she could end my life without a second thought.

However, my self-preservation skills seemed to be lacking because the next second I pointed a finger straight at her and said, "Get in line. No one is explaining shit to anybody but me."

Within one second, everyone besides the small woman had crowded in front of me and made a barrier between me and her. Everyone looked ready to fight and I felt like I was missing something. I looked at the woman, thinking she was going to explode into a dragon or some shit based on their reactions, when she broke out into loud laughter, guffawing so loudly, a tear slid down her cheek.

I could feel the tension slide away from everyone, and they slowly moved away from me, but still stayed close to me. Lucien was looking at me like I was crazy.

I didn't care.

"What did you just do?" I demanded.

"It's called winnowing."

"I don't give a shit what's it called," I said with a frown. "How is that possible? How can I have traveled within seconds. Did you drug me?" As soon as I said it, I considered the possibility. He could have easily have drugged me. I could feel panic pressing against me as I processed the thought, as I thought of how long I could have been blacked out while he could have done whatever he wanted…

I closed my eyes and swallowed against the nausea threatening to rise.

"It's a sort of...traveling technique. We can use winnowing to travel between two space within seconds."

Even though it sounded outlandish and crazy and utterly impossible….I believed him. I opened my eyes, and found everyone staring at me. Even the silver-eyes woman was staring at me, in interest, and she took a step forward which caused everyone to tense. I almost smiled, while she frowned at them.

She stopped where she was and said, "I think introductions are in order. My name is Amren."

I didn't say anything just looked at the person behind her, a man with shadows clinging to him like a second skin. "Azriel," he said with a dip of his nod. His voice was soft, and I shivered.

There was a beautiful blond next to him who smiled kindly at me and said, "I'm Morrigan, but everyone calls me Mor."

The one next to her smiled at me, a bit cockily. "Name's Cassian, but you can call me whenever you want." I knew it was an attempt on his part to diffuse the tension in the room, in me, but that simple flirtation caused me to lock up. I could feel myself pale, and saw his eyes draw together in confusion.

The woman next to him gave him a dirty look before facing me and saying, "I'm Nesta."

The other woman next to Nesta smiled and said, "I'm Elain." There was a similarity between the two of them that had me wondering if they were related.

That left four other people. One of them was a light brown haired woman who also shared some similarities between Nesta and Elain. She smiled at me and said, "I'm Feyre."

The male with violet eyes next to her said, "I'm Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court which is where you are now." I appreciated that bit of information and nodded.

A woman with short, brown hair and round blue eyes smiled at me. "I'm Ember, daughter of these two." She said, pointing towards Feyre and Rhys, and I was confused because they all looked the same age. What the hell did they eat here to look this young?

The last male, who looked so much like his father, took a step forward. His eyes were violet, but had a hint of blue in them as well. He had curling, dark brown hair that fell into his eyes, giving him a boyish look. His mouth, however, was curled into an ironic smirk, and I immediately disliked him.

"Jett." He was looking at me like he wanted to devour me. I knew his kind. The type of boys who knew how handsome they were and used it in full-effect to get girls. They were always confident and so full of themselves. They always expected me to fall to my knees at the sight of their beauty and charms, but I never did. Looks like Jett will have to learn like the rest of them.

I glanced away from him, and I could almost feel the shock emanating from him, and I barely suppressed a smile.

"Alright, so now I know your names. Can one of you direct me to the fastest way out of here?" I said this with a sweet smile that fooled no one.

Lucien rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, but we can't until we know what you are."

"What I am?" I echoed, as I saw everyone give me alarmed looks.

"Isn't she human?" asked Cassian, while I noticed Azriel giving me a searching look. The shadows around him were vibrating, it seemed like, and I had the peculiar thought that they were talking to him. He noticed my stare, so I looked away quickly.

Amren stepped closer to me, and again I noticed how taut the others went around me. I looked into her silvered, ancient eyes. She lifted a hand, as if to touch me, but I hissed, "Touch me and I'll break your fucking hand." I'd done it before, but I knew that it wouldn't be as simple with her.

She laughed, once, giving me a smirk. "Oh, you'd be wonderful as a Fae. I actually think you might be more of a competition than anyone here."

Cassian actually looked offended at that.

I didn't bother asking what "Fae" was.

"You never gave us your name," said Jett. I had felt him staring at me, but hadn't looked at him once. I did now, though.

"Maya," I said, not bothering with my full name. I saw him mouth my name, and I looked away.

"Can I leave now?" Amren was still in front of me, and I felt, more than heard, her sniff.

There was a swishing noise, and then a paper was floating down. I almost reached out to grab it, but Nesta was the first one to grab it. She scanned the paper quickly, looking surprised at whatever she saw there, before Amren snatched the paper from her.

"Oh, no," she said softly, " I think the King is going to want to speak to you."

"Why?" That was Rhys, the word as sharp as a whip.

Amren shrugged. "Ask him yourself."

"I'm not going to speak to anyone." I said, but they all ignored me.

"What would Azore want with her?" asked Cassian.

Lucien answered him. "Well, it might have to do with the fact that every creature in the Spring forest was terrified of her and fleed."

There was silence. Complete and utter silence as I tried not to squirm beneath their stares.

"Who are you?" asked Jett, and I could detect a sense of bewilderment in his tone.

I looked around the room. "I don't know why that's such a big deal, but what I do know is that I am going to leave and no one is going to stop me." I was starting to feel that suffocation again. It was making me light-headed. Or maybe that was because I hadn't eaten anything all day and had spent most of it walking through a forest. Or it could have been because of the winnowing.

Or maybe it was the look every single person in the room was giving me.

Whatever it was, darkness claimed me before I could tell everyone to go to hell and that I was going nowhere but home.

But I didn't have a home.

So, I let the darkness be my home for the time being.

Strong arms caught me before I hit the ground as I slipped into shadows and smoke.


End file.
